A non-prohibited adult may carry a loaded pistol or revolver in a vehicle in New Hampshire without a license. RSA 159:6, III expressly states that the...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
A non-prohibited adult may carry a loaded pistol or revolver in a vehicle in New Hampshire without a license. RSA 159:6, III expressly states that the availability of a license does not impose a prohibition on "the unlicensed transport or carry of a firearm in a vehicle." This is the same constitutional-carry framework that applies to on-the-person carry. No license is required for any non-prohibited adult, whether the firearm is on the person or anywhere in the vehicle.
RSA 159:6, III: "The availability of a license to carry a loaded pistol or revolver under this section or under any other provision of law shall not be construed to impose a prohibition on the unlicensed transport or carry of a firearm in a vehicle, or on or about one's person, whether openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded, by a resident, nonresident, or alien if that individual is not otherwise prohibited by statute from possessing a firearm in the state of New Hampshire."
Before SB 12 (2017), New Hampshire required a license to carry a loaded pistol or revolver that was concealed, and case law and practice treated the interior of a vehicle as an extension of the person for that purpose. So carrying a loaded, concealed pistol in a vehicle without a license could be charged as unlicensed carry. SB 12 removed that restriction. As part of that 2017 act, the former RSA 159:4 (the unlicensed-carry offense) was repealed by 2017, 1:3, effective February 22, 2017, and the same act added the constitutional-carry language now found in RSA 159:6, III. Today an otherwise-qualified adult may have a loaded pistol in any part of the vehicle, including the glove box, the console, on the seat, in a holster on the person, or anywhere else.
New Hampshire imposes no state requirement that a pistol in a vehicle be unloaded, encased, or stored in any particular manner. The carrier may simply have the pistol on the seat, in a holster, in a console, or in the glove box.
Long guns (rifles and shotguns) have always been lawful to transport in a vehicle in New Hampshire for non-prohibited adults. There is no general state-law requirement to unload or encase long guns during transport in a vehicle.
There is one important context-specific rule from the Fish and Game code. Under RSA 207:7, II, no person shall have or carry, in or on a motor vehicle, OHRV, snowmobile, or aircraft, "when moving," a cocked crossbow, a loaded rifle or loaded shotgun, muzzleloader, or air rifle. Read the qualifier carefully:
A separate provision, RSA 207:7, III, prohibits the same loaded long guns and cocked crossbows in or on a boat or other craft while it is being propelled by mechanical power (or being towed by such a craft).
Outside the moving-conveyance situations covered by RSA 207:7, a loaded long gun in a vehicle is lawful for a non-prohibited adult under New Hampshire law.
For interstate travel, 18 U.S.C. Section 926A (the FOPA peaceable-journey provision) provides a federal safe harbor. It entitles a person who is not otherwise prohibited from transporting a firearm to transport that firearm for any lawful purpose from any place where the person may lawfully possess and carry it to any other such place. The protection applies only if, during the transportation, the firearm is unloaded, and neither the firearm nor any ammunition is readily accessible or directly accessible from the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The statute adds that in a vehicle without a compartment separate from the driver's compartment, the firearm or ammunition must be in a locked container other than the glove compartment or console.
FOPA matters for travel across state lines through a state where carry would otherwise be prohibited. For intra-NH travel, RSA 159:6, III controls and FOPA is not the constraint.
If a firearm is brought into a federal building, 18 U.S.C. Section 930 governs. Section 930(a) makes it an offense to knowingly possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a "Federal facility." Section 930(g)(1) defines a Federal facility as "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties." By its terms the statutory definition reaches the building or part of a building, not surrounding open areas. Section 930(h) requires that notice of the prohibition be posted at each public entrance, and a person generally cannot be convicted unless notice was posted or the person had actual notice. Federal courthouse facilities are covered separately and more strictly under Section 930(e).
Because Section 930 turns on entering the covered building, plan to secure a firearm in the vehicle before approaching a posted federal building rather than carrying it inside.
USPS post office buildings and their parking lots are restricted under 39 C.F.R. 232.1(l), a Postal Service regulation rather than a provision of RSA 159 or Title 18. Courts have disagreed about how the regulation applies to a firearm secured in a privately owned vehicle in a postal parking lot, so the conservative approach is to keep firearms off USPS property, including the lot.
Driving with a firearm in a vehicle to an airport is lawful. The restriction attaches at the screening checkpoint and on the aircraft, not on the access road or in the parking area. Under 49 U.S.C. Section 46505 (Carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft), it is a federal crime to have a concealed dangerous weapon that is or would be accessible in flight when on, or attempting to get on, an aircraft, or to place or attempt to place a loaded firearm on an aircraft in property not accessible to passengers in flight. Firearms transported in checked baggage must follow 49 C.F.R. 1540.111 and TSA rules: unloaded, in a locked hard-sided case, and declared to the air carrier at check-in. (Note that 18 U.S.C. Section 924 is the general penalties section for federal firearms offenses and is not itself the airport prohibition.)
Carrying a handgun in a vehicle to a post office to mail it is not a workaround. Under 18 U.S.C. Section 1715, pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person are nonmailable and may not be deposited in or carried by the U.S. mail, with narrow exceptions for specified officials and for licensed manufacturers and dealers. By its terms this provision reaches concealable handguns, not long guns. Knowingly depositing a nonmailable handgun for mailing is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to two years.
There is no statutory duty to inform a peace officer that a firearm is in the vehicle during a traffic stop. See DUTY_TO_INFORM. Practitioners commonly recommend voluntary disclosure if the officer makes contact and asks, but New Hampshire does not legally require it.
A loaded pistol on the seat, in the glove box, or in a holster on the driver is lawful in New Hampshire. The driver is not required to volunteer the information. If asked, the driver may answer truthfully. The officer may, as part of officer-safety protocol, ask to temporarily secure the firearm during the stop. That is a discretionary stop encounter that the driver may decline (with attendant friction) or accept.
This page covers one part of our New Hampshire concealed carry guide.
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